
FC Zürich were champions of the Swiss Super League last season under head coach André Breitenreiter (now at TSG Hoffenheim) with a commanding 14 point lead over the runners-up. The current campaign has been less successful for the club from Zürich: FCZ are currently next to bottom in the Swiss league with twelve points from 16 games.
The Werkself and FC Zürich have previously met three times. Bayer 04 secured an emphatic 5-0 win in a group match in the UEFA Cup in 2007/08. In 2018/19, there was one win each in Group A of the UEFA Europa league: FC Zürich won 3-2 at home and the Werkself secured a 1-0 victory in the return match.
Information on ticket sales will be available nearer the time on Bayer 04 club channels.
The winter timetable for the Alonso team is as follows: After the #Bayer04USATour to St. Louis from 13 to 18 November, the Werkself now have time off up to 30 November. Lukas Hradecky and Co. will then return to training in Leverkusen from 1 to 18 December. On 10 December there is a friendly away to Scottish record champions Rangers in Glasgow with the friendly against FC Zürich the last match in 2022 for Bayer 04.
The Werkself players will have time off over the festive period before returning on 3 January 2023 for the final preparations ahead of competitive matches in the New Year.

In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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